Lost Highway: Williams Drive / Old County Road 34 Place, Burnsville

Bypassed: 1960

Marked as: 1934-1960

History

Highway 13's original alignment at the Scott County line was
on Williams Drive (former County Road 34) in what is now Burnsville. In 1941,
a new highway was constructed north of Williams Drive along what is now Highway
13's eastbound lane. Although it was probably planned as a new alignment for
Highway 13, the new road ended up being marked as an eastern extension of
State Highway 101 instead. The two highways met just east of the modern junction
of Highway 13 with County Road 5. In 1960, Highway 13 was upgraded to four
lanes at the just completed I-35W interchange. The new four-lane section of
Highway 13 was constructed to merge directly onto old Highway 101, and Highway
13's route was moved off of Williams Drive. Highway 101 and Highway 13 shared
the highway to Savage until 1963, when Highway 101's route was truncated at
the west junction in Scott County. Williams Drive became County Road 34, but
was eventually turned back to the city of Burnsville.

Today, Williams Drive serves as a typical suburban drive, with
little to indicate that it was once a trunk highway. It has been significantly
widened and repaved since being bypassed in 1960. The eastern end of Williams
Drive was realigned to intersect County Road 5 a few blocks south of modern
Highway 13 at some point in the late 1970's. A section of the eastern end
of the old alignment remains as "Old Co Rd. 34 Place", accessible
via either Penn or Morgan Avenues.

Above, an aerial photo from 1947, showing the old junction of Highway 13 with
101.

Scans from the 1942 (left) and 1946 (right) official highway maps. The 1942
map erroneously showed Highway 13 using the new alignment that had just been
constructed in 1941. The 1946 map corrected this, showing Hwy 13 using the
old alignment on Williams Drive.

Photos

Photos taken in August, 2006. All photos are from the eastbound perspective.

Entering Dakota County on Williams Drive.

Looking east, just before the intersection with Penn Ave. The road has been
realigned here to curve south towards the modern junction with County Road
5. The original highway continued straight ahead.

Looking east on Old County Road 34 Place. This short stretch of old
highway is now a sleepy suburban street.

Old County Road 34 now ends at a cul-de-sac, just short of County Road 5.
The original highway continued straight ahead onto the alignment of modern
Highway 13 (visible). Just ahead is the site of the old junction of State
Highway 13 with State Highway 101.